


In Your Dreams

by Bling_Bling_Is_Jonghyun



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: M/M, Minor Lee Minhyuk/Im Changkyun | I.M, Referenced Bang Chan (Stray Kids), Referenced Choi Youngjae/Park Jinyoung (GOT7), Side Im Changkyun | I.M/Lee Minhyuk, They're so far apart, soulmate!AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-01-15 12:06:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18498619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bling_Bling_Is_Jonghyun/pseuds/Bling_Bling_Is_Jonghyun
Summary: When you turn 19, you begin to have dreams. Visions of your soulmate. Kihyun's visions were in the day, and he was beginning to lose faith that he would meet him. But little does he know, Hyunwoo, his soulmate, was having dreams of Kihyun's daily life as well. And he wants to meet up.





	1. Chapter 1

“I swear, Minhyukkie,” Kihyun sighed, running a hand over his face, “I don’t think I’ll ever meet him.”

 

“You will! Don’t put yourself down just yet,” Minhyuk said, putting a hand on Kihyun’s shoulder. “You just need to pay a little more attention. Do you at least recognize where he is? Or what his name is?”

 

“I don’t know where… I know his name is uh… Hyunwoo, I think,” Kihyun said.

 

“That’s a cute name,” Minhyuk said with a smile.

 

“Remember, it’s  _ my _ soulmate we’re talking about,” Kihyun said, playfully glaring at Minhyuk.

 

They continued to walk for a little while, slowly reaching their side of campus. Kihyun looked back up to Minhyuk, breaking the silence that had been made. “I do find them to be strange, though. The dreams. Each one of them, I’ve been lucid and I can tell it’s a dream- er, vision-  _ thing, _ and I can have my own thoughts but I can’t do anything physically.”

 

“I think that’s normal with soulmates,” Minhyuk said. “Remember how Youngjae and Jinyoung said it was with them?”

 

“Yeah, but at least they’re both in the same area,” Kihyun muttered.

 

“Hmmmm… what time is it usually when you see him?”

 

“He’s usually around his house and stuff as I fall asleep,” Kihyun said. “It’s usually like, early afternoon when I first see him. Like, eleven a.m.-ish.”

 

“And you go to sleep around ten or eleven most of the time, right?”

 

“Yeah, I do.”

 

“Then he’s most likely on the other side of the world,” Minhyuk said. “But that doesn’t mean you have to give up hope just yet.”

 

“Min…” Kihyun said with a sigh, “I don’t even know if he’s seeing  _ me _ in his dreams.”

 

“What if he is, Ki?” Minhyuk asked. “What would you do then?”

 

“Then I’m praying that, for whatever reason, he recognizes this uni,” Kihyun said, sighing once again. 

 

“Who wouldn’t recognize this place? It’s one of the biggest universities in America!”

 

“Someone like him that lives out of the country? Someone that even maybe doesn’t even live in this state?” Kihyun argued. “Not everyone pays attention to colleges and unis, Min.”

 

“Come  _ on, _ Ki,” Minhyuk said, starting to sound exasperated. “You have to have faith in this. When you go home tonight, tell me if you have another dream about him. Try to remember what it looks like. Write it down as soon as you wake up. I’ll try to help you place the man of your dreams.”

 

“Literally,” Kihyun laughed a little. “Tell Changkyun I said hi when you see him.”

 

“I will!” Minhyuk said, running away to his class.

  
  
  


~~~~~~~~~

  
  
  


The day passed by uneventfully for Kihyun. Not that he was paying attention during half of it, anyway. He was more focused on getting through it so he could get home and sleep. Ever since he had started getting dreams of his soulmate, going to sleep had been his favourite part of the day. He was beautiful. Like, borderline  _ godlike _ . Kihyun wondered how one man could be so beautiful.

 

The first time he got one was about three months ago. Kihyun remembers it vividly. The guy, Hyunwoo, looked in the mirror, and Kihyun knew that if he was awake, he would have actually gasped a little. Hyunwoo was stunning, to say the least. After he had gotten ready, he went on a walk. The area where he lived was beautiful. Where he walked was lined with cherry blossom trees and some of the greenest grass Kihyun had ever seen. He wished he could see as many trees and plants and nature in general. Instead, Kihyun was stuck in Boston going to uni.

 

Hyunwoo didn’t even do much that day. He spent some time with a few friends (and if Kihyun remembers correctly, their names were Hoseok, Jooheon, and Hyungwon), walked around, ran a few errands, all just normal things. Nothing super exciting or spectacular, yet Kihyun found himself intrigued with it all. The way he did things, the way he spoke softly, even the way he walked attracted Kihyun’s interest. And each time Kihyun woke up, his emotions were all out of order. 

 

Firstly, he was sad. Every time he fell asleep, Hyunwoo would be just waking up. Meaning that Hyunwoo was most likely on the other side of the world. Which meant that the chance of Kihyun actually meeting Hyunwoo was very minuscule. Almost none. 

 

Secondly, Kihyun was happy as well. He loved seeing Hyunwoo’s daily life and seeing him be happy. Hyunwoo seemed to be always happy. When Hyunwoo was having a good day, Kihyun woke up with a smile on his face.

 

And lastly, he was confused. At first, when he was having the dreams and visions, Hyunwoo seemed to be really sad. Like something was always wrong but he never talked about it. But gradually, he seemed to brighten up. Like something happened to him that made him happy. But Kihyun never really noticed anything different in his days. He hadn’t noticed any change. But Hyunwoo seemed to be happier and happier with each day. 

 

Kihyun ran his hands through his hair, trying to think of something to do other than to be left with more questions than answers. He looked at the clock, reading almost ten. How did time fly by so fast? Kihyun hurriedly put his things away, shutting his laptop and plugging it in to charge. He flopped down into his bed, looking out of the window and smiling at the view. He never really took the time to appreciate the view he had of the city in his apartment. Kihyun, thankfully, was able to get one on the top floor of the building, so he got to overlook most of the area he lived in. The lights illuminating the building was always so captivating to see when he actually paid attention to it. And before too long, he had fallen asleep.

  
  
  


~~~~~~~

  
  
  


_ Hyunwoo was making lunch. From what Kihyun could tell, it almost looked like some sort of stir fry or something. Whatever it was, it looked good. Hyunwoo added in all these different spices and things and Kihyun couldn’t tell what they were. He assumed they were good though because Hyunwoo smiled a little when he began eating.  _

 

_ Something was different in today’s dream, though. Kihyun could hear Hyunwoo’s voice even though he wasn’t speaking. Was Kihyun hearing his thoughts? _

 

“Maybe someday, I’ll meet him, _ his voice came.  _ “Maybe I’ll figure out where he is or find him online and talk to him. But… I’ll be shy…”

 

_ Kihyun knew that if he was awake, he would be smiling. So he was shy, as well. Kihyun was also mentally slapping himself as he realised. Why didn’t he ever think of looking him up online? He would ask Minhyuk and Changkyun when he woke up. _

 

_ Hyunwoo happened to do the one thing Kihyun didn’t expect him to do. He was with Hoseok, Jooheon, and Hyungwon, and he began to talk about who he assumed to be himself. Kihyun was a little confused why he made lunch and  _ then _ went out, but when Hyunwoo only ordered a bubble tea, Kihyun mentally nodded in understanding. _

 

_ “I think he’s been having dreams of me, too,” he said, drinking his bubble tea slowly.  _

 

_ “Oh really? How do you know that?” Jooheon asked, smiling a little. _

 

_ “Well, yesterday, he was with that guy Minhyuk that he’s friends with,” Hyunwoo said, “and he kept saying my name and saying that he was upset that he would never get the chance to meet me.” _

 

_ “That’s so cute!” Hoseok said, smiling widely. _

 

_ “That’s it, we’re searching for him on the internet,” Hyungwon said, his voice laced with a tone of finality. “You’re obviously head over heels for this guy, so run everything by us again. Tell us everything you know. His name, how old he is, any places you recognize him going to, everything.” The other three people widened their eyes and looked at him, but nodded. _

 

_ “You make it sound like we’re professional stalkers,” Jooheon said slowly. _

 

_ “It’s for Hyunwoo. It needs to be done,” Hyungwon said. “I don’t mean to scare you guys with the way I’m wording it. Sorry about that.” He waved a hand in Hyunwoo’s direction now. “Now go on?” _

 

_ “Well…” Hyunwoo said, “his name is Kihyun, and he’s going to uni. His friend Minhyuk goes with him too and he also has a friend named Changkyun, and I think that he goes to that uni too. Also, remember the one I said I wanted to go to if I was ever in America? He’s going to it!” _

 

_ The group of them smiled, seeing how happy Hyunwoo was getting as he talked about his soulmate. Hoseok spoke up first. “You can start by looking on the website for that uni, you know.” _

 

_ “I can?” Hyunwoo said, sounding slightly confused. “I didn’t know that they put up the student’s profiles on the public website.” _

 

_ “Not many do. Big ones like that one do, and I know that because I’ve looked at that uni before when you mentioned liking it,” Hyungwon said, focusing deeply on his screen. He was typing away furiously, eyes flickering around. _

 

_ “That’s a little weird…” Hyunwoo said. “But if it means I can find him and make sure he’s actually there, then, please. I want to see him.” _

 

_ Kihyun felt his heart flutter a little bit at his words. He was so shy sounding but he also sounded so happy. He wanted to meet Kihyun so bad… and Kihyun had no idea about it. _

 

_ It took at most an hour for them to find out everything about Kihyun. Where he was staying, who he really was, a few social media profiles, everything. Kihyun would have been scared if it were anyone else. But Kihyun trusted Hyunwoo. He wanted Hyunwoo to find him. _

 

_ “I think we can help you out, Hyunwoo,” Jooheon said.  _

 

_ “What do you mean? You’re already helping me,” Hyunwoo said. _

 

_ “We know where he is. We know all that about him and stuff, as creepy as that sounds,” Hoseok said. “We’d be willing to pool for a plane ticket to Boston so you can actually meet him.” _

 

_ Hyunwoo’s ears began to feel warm, and Kihyun mentally smiled widely. “Y-You really would? Why?” _

 

_ “We want to see you happy,” Hyungwon said. “We want you to be with him.” _

 

_ “B-But…” Hyunwoo stuttered. _

 

_ “We wouldn’t stop being your friend just because you’re in a different country if that’s you’re worried about,” Jooheon said. _

 

_ “I… I want to meet him…” Hyunwoo said, starting to sound sad. “But… I don’t want to leave you guys… You guys are my only friends. As much as I may like him, which is a lot, I wouldn’t want to leave you… I mean, I’ve never even met him before!” _

 

_ “You really think that we’d even let you go alone in the first place?” Jooheon said with a laugh. _

 

_ “But you just said-” _

 

_ “I know what I said,” Jooheon smiled. “But we can barely trust you to go alone to the store half the time. We’re gonna come with you.” _

 

_ “But you guys said that you’re gonna pool for a ticket for me because god knows I can’t afford that and-” _

 

_ Hyunwoo was cut off by Hoseok putting a finger over his lips. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll be able to pay for ours and help you pay for yours, okay? Everything’s gonna be alright.” _

 

_ “Are you guys sure…?” Hyunwoo asked shyly. _

 

_ “Of course. We want to see you happy, Nunu,” Hyungwon said, leaning over and hugging Hyunwoo lightly. Hyunwoo smiled and hugged back, then sat back up straight. _

 

_ “When are we leaving then?” Hyunwoo asked. _

 

_ “Whenever you want to,” Hoseok said. _

 

_ “No, no, you guys pick,” Hyunwoo rushed, putting his hands up. “If you guys are paying then you pick when.” _

 

_ “Hyunwoo, we’re going to do this for you. You pick,” Jooheon said. _

 

_ Hyunwoo sighed a little. “Fine… how about… a week from now…?” _

 

_ “Sounds great,” Hyungwon said through a smile. “Go home and pack your things, guys. God knows we take forever.” _

 

_ “There’s no ‘we’ in this. You just have a horrible problem with procrastination,” Hoseok said, pinching Hyungwon’s cheek and laughing a little. _

 

_ “We probably should though,” Hyunwoo said. “Be smart and think about this. This is the first out of country trip we’ve ever taken. We’re gonna want to make sure we have  _ everything _ together.” _

 

_ “You’re probably right, Hyunwoo,” Jooheon said. “I know how you are, though, so when you’re packing, please remember not to panic at all. You tend to overthink a lot of things, Nunu.” _

 

_ “I know, I know… I’ll try my best not to,” Hyunwoo said. _

 

_ If Kihyun was awake, his heart would be going a million miles an hour. Hyunwoo was coming to see him…? And so soon? What should he do? _

 

_ Kihyun decided to think while watching Hyunwoo pack for the rest of the day. He seemed nervous as well, which made Kihyun feel a little better. Kihyun was a little scared now, though. Hyunwoo’s coming so soon? One thing was for sure- he needed to talk to Minhyuk and Changkyun in the morning as soon as possible. _


	2. Chapter 2

Kihyun woke the next day with a smile on his face. He quickly sat up, getting dressed and ready. He pulled his phone out, time reading noon, and called Minhyuk, practically hopping from foot to foot in his room.

 

It took three rings for him to answer. But it wasn’t Minhyuk. “Hello?”

  
“Changkyun?”

 

He sounded as if he had just woken up. “Yeah, what do you need?”

 

“I need to see you guys before classes start. It’s extremely important and it needs to happen ASAP,” Kihyun said, pulling a jacket on.

 

“What is it about?” Changkyun asked, voice sounding torn between annoyance and concern.

 

“Soulmate things. Urgent,” Kihyun said. He was devolving to one-to-two-word sentences.

 

“Okay, okay, give us like ten minutes and we’ll be with you,” Changkyun said. “Normal place?”

 

“Yes,” Kihyun answered. “Later.”

 

“Bye, Kihyunnie,” Changkyun said, hanging up. Kihyun looked around, trying to think of anything else he may be forgetting. When he decided that he has everything together, he rushed out of the house, locking his door behind him and rushing down to the cafe on the edge of campus. The three of them had decided that that shop was the perfect meeting place for them, seeing as they have to go to separate places on campus following whatever meeting they did, and the cafe was the best place for them to go if they all had classes. 

 

Kihyun entered, waving and giving a quick ‘hello’ to the cashier already there. He sat in the corner at the tall table. Kihyun jumped a little when the small waitress came and tapped on his shoulder, usual order in hand. 

 

“I put a little extra chocolate in there, on the house,” she said, setting it down in front of him on the table. “You seem jumpy. Is everything alright?”

 

Kihyun smiled sweetly at her, beginning to swing his legs a little. “I’m alright. Just a little nervous. Thank you.”

 

She nodded and returned behind the counter, cleaning a few of the parts from one of the coffee machines. Sure enough, just as he said, Changkyun and Minhyuk walked through the door not long after. They came and sat with him, and Minhyuk still looked like he was waking up.

 

“Okay, spill,” Changkyun said. “What was so wrong that you had to wake us up before one when our classes are at two-thirty?”

 

“Oh shut up, you sleep too much anyway,” Kihyun said with a slight roll of his eyes.

 

“You sleep till noon on afternoon class days!” Minhyuk said, almost whining. “You can’t say anything!”

 

“That doesn’t matter. But to the important part! He’s been dreaming of me, too,” Kihyun said excitedly, smiling widely.

 

“What do you mean?” Changkyun said.

 

“Hyunwoo’s been dreaming of you too?” Minhyuk said, quickly sobering up from his sleepy state.

 

“He has,” Kihyun said. He couldn’t stop smiling. “He was talking to his three friends yesterday and was talking about what I said to you yesterday, and they found me on the uni website! They want to come and visit and maybe stay and- and-”

 

“Woah, woah, slow down,” Changkyun chuckled. “Eager now, are we?”

 

“I’ve been wanting to meet him pretty much since I started seeing him,” Kihyun said. “This is  _ important _ !”

 

“Okay, so,” Minhyuk said, sitting straight up now, fully awake, “do you know when?”

 

“I don’t remember exactly when they said they wanted to come, but his friends said that because he was struggling for money or something they would pool money together to get a ticket for him to fly over here,” Kihyun said.

 

“Well then we need to make sure that you’re ready for everything,” Changkyun said. “If you don’t know when they’re coming, then we need to do it as soon as possible. You have an extra room in your apartment, correct?”

 

“I do,” Kihyun said, nodding.

 

“We’ll clean that out really well,” Minhyuk said.

 

“I’ll help you guys clean his apartment,” Changkyun said. “Some rooms are disaster level.”

 

“You haven’t been to my apartment in months!” Kihyun laughed a little. “How would you know?”

 

“Because I know you as a person,” Changkyun said, smirking. “I know how you are. You were like this when we were little, and you’re like this now.”

 

Kihyun sighed, smiling. “Whateverrrrr. Anyway, I woke up smiling today with how he was talking about me. But honestly, the way that he’s talking about me, I could literally say the same things about him.”

 

“What did he say about you?” Minhyuk asked. 

 

“Well, after they left the cafe and walked around for a while since it ended up being a free day for them, they asked him what I looked like and what I seemed like personality-wise,” Kihyun said.

 

“What did they say though?” Minhyuk asked again.

 

“He was telling them that I was adorable,” Kihyun said, smiling shyly. “And he said that he wanted to come to see me and do anything to make me happy because he said I deserve it.”

 

“Well, you don’t have to be your soulmate to know that you deserve happiness,” Changkyun said. “You’re one of the nicest people we know. You always have been.”

 

“It’s different hearing him say it, though,” Kihyun said. “From you, I get like, sibling vibes. But from him, it’s like… it makes me feel all warm inside. I just wanna hug him and make him happy and see him smile literally all the time.”

 

“Boy, you are  _ whipped _ for him,” Minhyuk said, grinning. “You know that if he really comes and visits here to see you and maybe stay here permanently, if he hurts you, we’re putting him and his friends in a box like they did to the animals in  _ Madagascar _ and shipping them back to where they came from.”

 

“Jesus Christ,” Changkyun said, laughing loudly.

 

“No!” Kihyun said, also laughing. “You’re not hurting them! Not physically, anyway. I can’t stop you from bullying them if he hurts me like that, but you’re not physically hurting him. He’s gonna stay safe while he’s here.”

 

“Fiiiiiiine,” Minhyuk said, giving an exasperated sigh and laughing a little. 

 

“Anything else specifically that you want to tell us before we have to go soon?” Changkyun asked.

 

“Not really,” Kihyun said. “But his smiles… something about his smile he gave to the mirror in the morning was like he knew that I was seeing him. Like he was smiling for me.”

 

“He probably was, Ki,” Minhyuk said, smiling and standing up. “If you remember anything throughout the day about him or if it’s just something that you didn’t tell us just now, give either of us a text or a call or something about it, okay?”

 

“Mhmm!” Kihyun said. “Got it! I’ll talk to you later.”

 

“See you later!” Changkyun and Minhyuk said in unison.

 

Kihyun rushed out of the cafe in the direction of his class. He wasn’t late, no, not at all, but if he got there soon enough he would be able to try out his idea. Kihyun didn’t have much time to do this before other students in this class began to file in, so he had to either be quick or do it somewhere else and be late. You see, the plan was to write a letter addressed to Hyunwoo. But instead of sending it, Kihyun was just going to read it. If Hyunwoo was seeing Kihyun’s daily life like he claimed to be doing, he would be able to respond the next day and read it along with Kihyun. 

 

Luckily, by the time that Kihyun got to the classroom, there was no one there and nearly twenty minutes to the start of class. No one would be here for another ten minutes tops. He sighed, picking up a pencil and pulling out a piece of paper. He wrote slowly, wanting to make sure that Hyunwoo would have a chance to read it.

 

_ ‘Hi Hyunwoo. I know this is a slightly awkward way of speaking to you but I would like to talk to you  _ somehow _ ,’  _ Kihyun wrote.  _ ‘I know about you guys trying to come and see me because I’ve been seeing you in my dreams as well. I’m honoured that you would like to come to see me. I’d love to see you, too. Don’t have your hopes up too much, though. I don’t want you to be disappointed if I don’t live up to your expectations. And I know that you’re my soulmate, but I think I’d like to get to know you a little. XOXO, Kihyunnie’ _

 

Kihyun signed the bottom of the letter to his soulmate with his phone number. After signing it, he read through it slowly, wanting to make sure he gave a chance to Hyunwoo to read through it all the way. After finishing it, he folded it up neatly, put it in his pocket, and watched as students began to file in the classroom. The rest of the day flew by uneventfully. Probably because he was excited to see how Hyunwoo would react to the letter.

 

Later that night, about an hour or so before he went to bed, he got a text. 

  
  


**_???_ **

Kihyunnie?

  
  


Kihyun tilted his head in confusion before remembering that he gave Hyunwoo his number. He texted back excitedly:

  
  


**_Kihyun_ **

Yes? Hyunwoo?

  
  


**_???_ **

Yes! It’s me! God, you have no idea how much I’m smiling right now just being able to talk to you.

  
  


**_Kihyun_ **

I would totally go to sleep to see you but, y’know, talking to you like this is nice too :)

  
  


**_Hyunwoo_ **

I’m glad you think so! So you really know about us coming to see you soon?

  
  


**_Kihyun_ **

Yeah! I’ve been seeing you in my dreams for a while, and I almost had a heart attack when you said that you were seeing me too. Doubly so when you said that you wanted to see me.

  
  


**_Hyunwoo_ **

Who wouldn’t want to see you? You’re awesome! Can we trade selfies?

  
  


**_Kihyun_ **

Of course! [image.png attached]

  
  


**_Hyunwoo_ **

You’re just as cute as I remember you being! [image.png attached]

  
  


**_Kihyun_ **

Guess who just found a new lock screen?

  
  


**_Hyunwoo_ **

You flatter me uwu

  
  


**_Kihyun_ **

You even use uwu!!! Cute!!!

  
  


**_Hyunwoo_ **

Thank youuuuuu

  
  


**_Kihyun_ **

I would love to stay up and keep talking to you but I am struggling to keep my eyes open. I’ll talk to you again tomorrow night!

  
  


**_Hyunwoo_ **

Don’t let me keep you up! You’ll see me soon anyway! Goodnight Kihyunnie <3

  
  


**_Kihyun_ **

Goodnight Hyunuwu

  
  
  


~~~~~~~

  
  
  


_ When Kihyun fell asleep and began seeing Hyunwoo, Hyunwoo was… running?  _

 

_ When he finally stopped running, he ended up at the cafe again, meeting with Jooheon, Hyungwon, and Hoseok again. _

 

_ “Guys!!!” Hyunwoo exclaimed, quickly sitting in the same seat. _

 

_ “What’s up??” Hoseok said, looking slightly concerned. _

 

_ “He gave me his number!!” Hyunwoo said. “He knows about us coming to see him soon!!!” _

 

_ “He does??” Jooheon said a little excitedly. _

 

_ “Yeah!” Hyunwoo said, nodding. “Today, he went to class early and wrote a letter. But when he wrote, he wrote it as a letter to me!” _

 

_ “That’s sweet!” Hoseok said, smiling.  _

 

_ “Yeah!” Hyunwoo said, unable to stop smiling. “And he signed the bottom with his phone number! We talked all morning until he had to go to sleep! And we exchanged selfies and he has me as his lock screen now!” _

 

_ “Y’all are whipped for each other, aren’t you?” Hyungwon chuckled. _

 

_ “Hey! He’s really nice!” Hyunwoo said, sounding slightly defensive. _

 

_ “I’m sure he is,” Jooheon said, smiling. “I’m glad he’s making you happy.” _

 

_ “Okay, so, for his sake, since he’s technically watching, when do you guys plan on going to Boston to see him?” Hyunwoo asked. _

 

_ “We can head out as soon as tomorrow if you really wanted to,” Hyungwon said. “I know yesterday we kind of agreed on a week from now but I can see how eager Hyunwoo is to meet him. So we can get out of here as soon as tomorrow if you guys were okay with it.” Jooheon and Hoseok gave nods of agreement, and Kihyun felt Hyunwoo smile widely. _

 

_ “So it’s agreed?” Hyungwon said. _

 

_ “Yup!” Hyunwoo said.  _

 

_ “Okay, then I need to go to the bank and make a few purchases online,” Hyungwon said.  _

 

_ “What do you mean?” Jooheon asked. _

 

_ “I have to buy our tickets and stuff, you know,” Hyungwon said. “You guys should go home as soon as you can and pack your things. I’ll let you know when our flight leaves. Leave the hotel to me, too.” _

 

_ “You know, Hyungwon,” Jooheon said, “this is the most responsible I think we’ve ever seen you act.” _

 

_ “I know it is,” Hyungwon said. He turned to Hyunwoo now. “Hyunwoo, I’ve known you since we were both little kids. This might be my one chance to repay you for all that you’ve done for me over the years.” _

 

_ “Thank you, Hyungwon,” Hyunwoo said, smiling widely. “I really appreciate this.” _

 

_ “Of course, hyung,” Hyungwon said.  _

 

_ “We should probably go pack now, yeah?” Hoseok said. _

 

_ “We should,” Jooheon agreed, standing up. Hyunwoo stood up as well. _

 

_ “Okay! I’ll go pack now,” Hyunwoo said, stepping away from the table. “I’ll text you later then! Bye!” Hyunwoo rushed out of there and straight home, immediately pulling out a large suitcase and packing several outfits into it, along with a few other essential things for travel. Later on in the evening, as Hyunwoo was eating dinner, he got a text from Hyungwon: _

  
  


**Hyungwon**

_ Our flight leaves at eight in the morning tomorrow. Make sure that you wake up in time _

  
  


_ Hyunwoo replied quickly: _

  
  


**Hyunwoo**

_ I will!! Besides, the earlier I wake up the earlier I can text him! _

  
  


**Hyungwon**

_ Okay. We all agreed on meeting up there at seven, though, so we can make sure we’re there and that we won’t miss it. Please make sure you get there on time. _

  
  


**Hyunwoo**

_ I will, I promise _

  
  


_ Hyunwoo went to sleep with a wide smile on his face that night, happy to be soon seeing his soulmate. And he knew that when he woke up, he would be able to talk to him again anyway by text. _


	3. Chapter 3

“Minhyukkie I’m nervous,” Kihyun said, leg bouncing with anxiety. “What if he doesn’t really like me?”

 

“You guys have been talking for almost a week. Tomorrow is the big day where you get to finally see him,” Minhyuk said, changing the channel on the TV. “If he had second thoughts about this, he would have told you sooner than this.”

 

“I know, I know, just…” Kihyun sighed a little bit. “I’m afraid that once he actually sees me it won’t take long for him to get tired of me like almost everyone does.”

 

“I never got tired of you,” Minhyuk said. “Neither did Changkyun. We’ve been best friends with you since we were all kids.”

 

“I know,” Kihyun said. “That’s why I said almost.”

 

“Everything will turn out alright, I promise,” Minhyuk said.

 

They were sitting in Minhyuk’s living room. Kihyun came over after lunch to hang out The two of them had been going back and forth for several hours now, Kihyun bringing up his nervousness and Minhyuk reassuring him, then five minutes later repeating the cycle. Changkyun was asleep in the other room, having given up on this whole thing after the first fifteen minutes.

 

“What time is it?” Kihyun asked, running a hand through his hair.

 

“It’s around ten-thirty,” Minhyuk said. “You want to go to bed now, don’t you?”

 

Kihyun nodded, and Minhyuk nodded as well. “Go ahead. Keep me updated in the morning and then we’ll go pick him up.”

 

“I will, don’t worry,” Kihyun said. Minhyuk nodded and Kihyun exited the room, making a beeline for their spare bedroom.

 

Kihyun hurriedly changed into his pyjamas, throwing himself onto the bed and covering himself up. He was so anxious and stressed about this meeting. It was eating him up. Maybe seeing Hyunwoo nervous would make him feel better about it.

  
  
  


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_ When Kihyun finally managed to surpass the anxiety and fall asleep, Hyunwoo was… not there. _

 

_ In fact, there was nothing. Everything was black and Kihyun couldn’t see a single thing. What happened? Did something happen to Hyunwoo? _

 

_ It was a rare occurrence, but soulmates could switch suddenly if a person was lucky enough. Did Hyunwoo find someone else? Did they decide to cancel the trip and not come see Kihyun because there was no longer any need to? No, Hyunwoo would have told Kihyun… wouldn’t he? _

 

_ Kihyun knew that if he was awake, his eyes would be overflowing with tears. He thought that he had finally found someone that made him happy and actually liked him not as a joke. It hurt more than it should have. Kihyun should have prepared himself for this kind of situation. No one likes him for real, and even if they do, it doesn’t ever last long. _

 

_ He needed to wake up. He needed to wake up and tell Minhyuk. Maybe Minhyuk and Changkyun would give him hugs and cuddles and feed him good food to try to make him feel better. _

  
  
  


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Kihyun felt pains in his chest immediately after waking up. Stabbing pains that came with the more serious kinds of crying. He swiped at his eyes, finding that there were already tears there.

 

He looked at his phone, surprised to see that it was almost noon. Kihyun sat up, trying to regain his breathing before stepping out into the hallway and going to the living room.

 

“Minhyuk?” Kihyun called out, voice ragged.

 

“Kihyun?” Changkyun answered. “What’s up?”

 

Kihyun came to the living room, finding Changkyun sitting on the couch. When he caught sight of Kihyun in tears, he stood up.

 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Changkyun asked, placing his hands on Kihyun’s shoulders. “What happened?”

 

“I didn’t see him,” Kihyun said quietly.

 

“What do you mean you didn’t see him?”

 

“Hyunwoo was gone. I… I didn’t see  _ anything _ last night, Changkyun,” Kihyun said between breaths. “It was all black.”

 

“Kihyunnie-”

 

Kihyun cut him off. “What if he found someone else? What if they cancelled the trip because they didn’t need to see me anymore?”

 

“Kihyun, that’s surely not the case,” Changkyun said.

 

“Where’s Minhyukkie?” Kihyun asked. “I want to see him… I wanna talk to him. Both of you will make me feel better, right?”

 

“Of course we will, Ki,” Changkyun said. “Come here. We’ll watch a movie and eat snacks until Minhyuk comes back. He might be bringing lunch too.”

 

Kihyun nodded, sniffling. Changkyun steered Kihyun to the couch, telling him to wait there for a second as he rushed to the kitchen. He came back a few moments later with a small container of Kihyun’s favourite ice cream. Kihyun smiled weakly, appreciating the gesture.

 

“What do you want to watch, Ki?” Changkyun asked, throwing a soft blanket at Kihyun.

 

Kihyun immediately wrapped himself in it. “I think… I wanna watch a Disney movie.”

 

“Fine with me. Which one?” Changkyun asked him, keeping his voice gentle.

 

“You pick between Mulan, Moana, Brave, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin,” Kihyun said. “Any of those will be good enough for me.”

 

“I’m in the mood for Brave more than any of the other ones,” Changkyun said with a smile, inserting the disc into the DVD player and returning to Kihyun’s side. Kihyun curled up, laying across Changkyun’s lap.

 

“It’ll get better, Kihyun,” Changkyun said, resting a hand on Kihyun’s middle. “Don’t worry. Minhyuk and I will be here with you for as long as you need us. We promise.”

 

“Okay,” Kihyun said, nodding.

 

Just as it neared the part where Merida’s mother had turned into a bear, Kihyun felt his eyelids getting heavier and heavier. Eventually, he just gave up, not even finding a will to want to stay awake anymore.

  
  
  


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_ This time when Kihyun fell asleep, he actually saw Hyunwoo. But not as he would have liked. _

 

_ Hyunwoo seemed happy. He was walking down the street, talking with his friends and… someone new. Someone he didn’t recognize. The new person seemed to be  _ very _ familiar with Hyunwoo, and Kihyun’s heart felt as if it was literally shattering. He didn’t recognize this person, didn’t know who he was.  _

 

_ It hurt even more to see how gorgeous this person was. He was so pretty- light blond hair, nice cheekbones, chiselled jawline, and some of the prettiest eyes he had ever seen (of course, not as nice as Hyunwoo’s eyes, though). How could Hyunwoo  _ not _ choose him over Kihyun? _

 

_ It hurt Kihyun to know internally that Hyunwoo apparently didn’t trust him enough to maybe warn him that this might happen. That there was someone else in the picture that could have stolen him away. _

 

_ Kihyun didn’t even want to wake up anymore. He didn’t want to have a future without Hyunwoo. He knew that it was a fairly short amount of time since he had known him and gotten to talk with him, but he easily knew that this is what he wanted. Kihyun wanted to be with Hyunwoo. Wanted to be there to take care of him and make sure he was okay. Just… wanted him.  _

 

_ And now it couldn’t happen. _

 

_ As Kihyun wished it would all go away, everything went dark again. And then once again, as Kihyun slept, there was nothing.  _

  
  
  


~~~~~~~

  
  
  


Kihyun woke up, sitting up quickly and looking around frantically.

 

“What is it?” Changkyun asked him. “What’s wrong?”

 

“I-... nothing,” Kihyun said, laying back down slowly. “Just another stupid vision…”

 

“What happened in it?” Changkyun asked. 

 

“He really did find someone else,” Kihyun mumbled, bringing the blanket up around his face now. “I really did get forgotten.”

 

“I’m sure he didn’t forget about you, Kihyunnie…” Changkyun said. He opened his mouth to say more but was cut off by his phone dinging, signalling a text message. “Minhyuk wants to know if you’re up for lunch since he’s already there. Do you wanna go?”

 

“Sure…” Kihyun said in a monotone voice. “Not much else to do.”

 

“Don’t be so down!” Changkyun said, patting Kihyun’s back. “It’ll all be okay soon.”

 

“What makes you so sure?” Kihyun sighed.

 

“Nothing much, really,” Changkyun said. Kihyun swore that as he turned away to go to his room, he saw a mischevious little smirk on his face. Kihyun brushed it off as nothing and got his shoes on, waiting by the door for Changkyun to return.

 

Changkyun came back only a little bit later. “Come on, let’s go eat something. Maybe you’ll feel a little better after eating.”

 

“Okay…”

 

They left the house, Kihyun not really knowing (or caring) where they went. All he knew was that Minhyuk was going to meet them. 

 

“What kind of stuff do you want to eat?” Changkyun said. “We’re going to a Japanese restaurant.”

 

“Just some sushi is fine…” Kihyun said, kicking rocks on the ground as he walked. He grabbed his headphones, putting them in and playing some of his favourite music. Not even that was making him feel better, and that almost always did. Changkyun didn’t say anything, though. Just led him to the restaurant and made sure Kihyun didn’t get hit by a car or something.

 

A tap on the shoulder got Kihyun’s attention. Changkyun made a motion like he was taking a headphone out, and Kihyun did as he was suggesting.

 

“We’re here,” Changkyun said, ruffling Kihyun’s hair. “Cheer up, bud. It’ll be alright.”

 

“You say that but I don’t think it will be…” Kihyun said. “Not for a little while, at least.”

 

“Well, why’s that?” Changkyun said, walking in. 

 

Kihyun followed. “He’s my first soulmate. You’re only  _ supposed _ to have one. Yet he somehow becomes one of the rare few that get a switch.”

 

“Ki-”

 

“I’m gonna come down with Hanahaki or something soon,” Kihyun said, frowning. 

 

“You will not come down with Hanahaki,” Kihyun said. “Everything will be fine.”

 

“Why do you keep insisting that everything will be fine!?” Kihyun said, snapping as Changkyun led him down a hall. They must have reserved a room or something. “How do you know that everything will be alright when you didn’t go through this?? You don’t know what I’m feeling, you don’t know what I’m thinking, nothing!”

 

“Kihyun, calm down!” Changkyun said sternly.

 

“Okay…” Kihyun said in the smallest voice he had. “I’m sorry.” Kihyun swiped at his eyes, hating that he was crying over this. He hated that the world would just offer him up as a soulmate to anyone just to rip the other away and leave Kihyun heartbroken and hurting. He didn’t know what to do anymore. 

 

“Hey, no need for tears now,” Changkyun said, stopping in front of the door. “Trust me when I say that, okay? I promise.”

 

Kihyun nodded and stepped into the room as Changkyun held the door for him. “Okay…”

 

Kihyun saw that there were eight chairs, immediately getting confused. If it was just the three of them, why would they need eight chairs? Kihyun’s mind was racing as he sat down in the chair closest to the window, watching the cars race by on the street.

 

Changkyun sat down a seat away from Kihyun, assumedly leaving a chair for Minhyuk. But why didn’t Changkyun just sit next to Kihyun on the other side of him then? Kihyun put his head down. He didn’t want to overthink things.

 

A knock came at the door. Changkyun yelled to the other side of the door. “Who is it?”

 

“It’s Minhyuk!” Some shuffling noises were heard as Changkyun got up to answer the door. Kihyun whined a little and put his headphones back in, bouncing his leg. 

 

Someone tapped on his shoulder. Kihyun took out a headphone but didn’t look up. “What.”

 

“Wow, guess I shouldn’t expect a very happy welcome from my soulmate then, huh?”

 

Kihyun froze. There was no way.

 

He raised his head slowly, looking around. There were six people in the room with him now including Changkyun and Minhyuk. And he recognized them all.

 

“I- you-” Kihyun couldn’t find words. “What?”

 

Hyunwoo chuckled a little bit. “Surprised to see me?”

 

Kihyun’s surprise quickly turned to frustration. “Yes and no.”

 

“Why’s that?” Hyunwoo said, tilting his head a bit.

 

“Why?” Kihyun repeated, raising his voice. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe because when I went to sleep, excited to see you again, you weren’t there? There was nothing. Blackness. I thought something had happened to you or that you were hurt or something!”

 

“Ki, I-”

 

Kihyun felt hot tears coming to his eyes, but he didn’t care. “And then! Earlier when I was napping, I actually  _ did _ see you this time! But I thought you were one of the rare few that got to switch soulmates randomly.”

 

“What makes you even think that?” Hyunwoo asked, placing his hand over Kihyun’s.

 

“You seemed to be more than just familiar and friendly with that guy,” Kihyun said, pulling his hand away. 

 

“Who are you-” Hyunwoo’s face turned from confusion to understanding. He looked at Jooheon, Hyungwon, and Hoseok now. “He’s talking about Chan, I think.”

 

“That’s  _ right _ ,” Hoseok said. “He doesn’t know about Chan, does he?”

 

“Who is Chan??? I’m right here, you know!” Kihyun said, frustrated.

 

“Here, come here and let me explain things, okay?” Hyunwoo said, standing up and offering a hand out to Kihyun. Kihyun didn’t take it, just pushed himself up from his chair and walked out into the hallway.

 

“Okay,” Kihyun said after the door was shut, crossing his arms. “Explain.”

 

“If we both sleep at the same time like I was on the plane ride here, neither of us would see anything, for one,” Hyunwoo said. “That’s why you didn’t see me.”

 

“I’ve heard differently from other people, but go on.”

 

Hyunwoo cleared his throat and continued. “The person I was with. His name is Chan. When I had come to visit here a few years ago, I made a friend as I did, and when I figured out that you guys both lived in the same area and that I was coming to visit, I called him up when we were both awake so you wouldn’t see. I asked him to give me a little bit of a refresher of the area since it had been a while and I thought it had been a long time since we had gotten to catch up with each other as well.”

 

“You were awfully touchy with him…” Kihyun said. “You just…” He felt tears pricking at his eyes again and tried to push it away. “You seemed so happy with him.”

 

“Kihyun, baby,” Hyunwoo said, pulling Kihyun into a hug (which Kihyun was grateful for since it hid his blush), “just know that however happy I was with him, I’ll be a million times happier with you. You’re my soulmate, one-and-only, love of my life, my-”

 

Kihyun broke a little, giggling. “Okay, okay, I get it.” He pulled away, looking up at Hyunwoo with a smile. 

 

“See? There’s that beautiful smile I love to see,” Hyunwoo said, bringing his hands up to Hyunwoo’s cheeks and putting his forehead against the other’s.

 

“S-stop,” Kihyun said, blushing and grinning more.

 

“Not as long as I get to see you smile,” Hyunwoo said. “Your smile is so pretty.”

 

“It’s really not…” Kihyun said, putting his arms around Hyunwoo.

 

Hyunwoo smiled and hugged back. “Well, I think it is. Do you forgive me now?”

 

“Mhmm,” Kihyun said, not letting go. 

 

Hyunwoo chuckled and kissed Kihyun’s forehead. Kihyun smiled widely, and Hyunwoo took his hand again, leading him back in.

 

“It’ll be fiiiiiine,” Minhyuk said.

 

“What’ll be fine?” Hyunwoo said as they sat down.

 

“I was just telling them that whichever way you guys choose, we’d help you either way,” Minhyuk said.

 

“Whichever way?” Kihyun said.

 

“Like if Hyunwoo decided to stay here with you or if you decided to come back with us,” Jooheon said. “Either way, we would be able to handle it.”

 

“I… I don’t know what way I want to pick,” Kihyun answered honestly. “On one hand, I would love to have him with me. But on the other hand… I don’t want to take him away from you guys. You guys love him like family, and I wouldn’t just want to rip someone’s brother away from them, y’ know?”

 

“We get that,” Hyungwon said. “We’ve already talked about it before. We said that it would be okay for him to stay here as long as he came and stayed with us for like, summers and stuff.”

 

Kihyun smiled. “That’s fine. Summers around here suck anyway.” He turned to Hyunwoo now. “Would you like that?”

 

“I mean… it would take a while since we’d have to go and pack my stuff,” Hyunwoo said. “Not that I have much, anyway. I just have like, clothes and other things I need.”

 

“Don’t even worry about it,” Jooheon said. “We already thought ahead for that.”

 

“What do you guys mean?” Hyunwoo said. Kihyun and Hyunwoo adorned matching expressions of confusion.

 

“We didn’t pack  _ our _ things,” Hoseok said, smiling. “Well, we did, but only the bare minimum. We mainly packed  _ your _ things because we knew that you would want to stay.”

 

“I-” Hyunwoo gave a weird expression to Hoseok just then. Somewhat of a mix of confusion and a ‘Why?’ sort of look. “What if you guys wanted to stay here for a few days?” 

 

“We knew that we wouldn’t,” Hyungwon said. “We agreed on it before we came. We have more family back home and… y’know, you’re not really close with yours, so you can pick wherever.”

 

“Why aren’t you close with your family?” Kihyun asked Hyunwoo.

 

“When they found out that I wasn’t the perfect little straight-A’s-in-school, plays-sports, straight boy that they wanted, they kind of just shunned me away,” Hyunwoo explained.

 

“I’m sorry,” Kihyun said. “Is it okay if I ask why you don’t seem so upset about that?”

 

“I don’t mind talking about it. They’re shitty people, anyway,” Hyunwoo said. “I’d rather people know how bad of people they are. I’m not upset about it because I don’t have anything to miss from them. Nothing to mourn over, honestly.”

 

“I wish you had a better family,” Kihyun said, lacing their fingers together under the table. 

 

“It’s alright,” Hyunwoo said. “These guys are the only family I need.”

 

“Aww, he loves us too!” Hoseok said with a smile.

 

Hyunwoo rolled his eyes. “Oh, shut up.”

 

The group of them continued to laugh and tell stories about what America is like versus what Korea is like, stories about when they all were kids, and a bunch of other things. They had all ordered bento boxes and sushi when it came time to order. 

 

“When do you guys think you’ll be going back?” Kihyun asked as they all walked home. Changkyun and Minhyuk said they planned on splitting once they got to the street they needed to be at.

 

“Was it two days or three?” Jooheon asked.

 

“We agreed to stay here two days to make sure that Hyunwoo settles in fine and then we would go back,” Hyungwon answered. “Not that he needs us, but we’re just being careful.”

 

“I get that. Where are you guys staying?” Kihyun asked. Changkyun and Minhyuk tapped on his shoulder, and he gave each of them a quick hug, waving bye to them as they separated and walked away.

 

“We each booked rooms for the hotel like a block away from your apartment complex,” Jooheon said. “Figured it needed to be close in case he needs us for something.”

 

“Alright. It’s just up here,” Kihyun said, pointing up the street a little bit. “My apartment.”

 

“We stashed our stuff in there earlier before we came,” Hyungwon said. 

 

“How did you guys get in my apartment?” Kihyun asked.

 

“Minhyuk let us in,” Hyunwoo said. 

 

“Ah, okay,” Kihyun said. He led them up the stairs and to the second floor, unlocking his door. Kihyun stepped to the side, letting them in. The three of them quickly got their things from inside the house and stepped out into the hall.

 

“Call us if you need anything!” Hoseok said as they went down the stairs. 

 

“I will!” Hyunwoo said, smiling and waving. Hyunwoo and Kihyun watched them go down the street for a little bit before Hyunwoo turned to Kihyun.

 

“Can we go on a walk?” Hyunwoo asked as they disappeared down the street. Kihyun nodded, locking the door behind them and smiling. 

 

“Where do you want to go?” Kihyun asked him as they reached the bottom of the stairs. 

 

“Anywhere as long as I’m with you, cutie,” Hyunwoo said with a smile.

 

“Okay,” Kihyun said, leading him to the Boston Public Garden.

 

“Why here?” Hyunwoo asked as they were walking through.

 

“I like looking at the trees and stuff as I walk,” Kihyun said, swinging their hands a little bit. “I also like how open some of this space is so I can see the stars. I’ve always loved how pretty they are.”

 

“Just look in the mirror and you’ll see something even prettier,” Hyunwoo said.

 

“That… was smooth, I’ll give you that,” Kihyun said, smiling widely.

 

“Hey, Kihyun?” Hyunwoo said, stopping suddenly. 

 

“What is it?” Kihyun asked, turning to him.

 

Hyunwoo brought his hand up to Kihyun’s cheek, stroking his thumb over Kihyun’s cheekbones. Kihyun blushed but didn’t pull away. Just looked up at Hyunwoo and smiled.

 

Hyunwoo leaned forward, pressing his lips to Kihyun’s softly. Kihyun lost his breath for a moment but followed along, wrapping his arms around Hyunwoo’s neck. Hyunwoo smiled into the kiss and rested his free hand on Kihyun’s waist. 

 

Kihyun let it go on for a little while (probably longer than he would be willing to admit) before pulling away and looking up at Hyunwoo with the biggest smile in the world.

 

“You don’t know how long I was waiting to do that,” Hyunwoo said quietly. 

 

Kihyun took his hand and resumed walking. “I think I might have an idea.”

 

“Oh really?” Hyunwoo said. “When, then?”

 

“Isn’t that why you wanted to go on a walk?”

 

“Nope. It’s been since we ate, earlier,” Hyunwoo said, smiling.

 

“That long?” Kihyun said. 

 

“You have no idea how much I had to restrain myself from just taking your face in my hands and kissing you in front of them all at the restaurant. But I remember from a few nights ago you said you were really shy,” Hyunwoo said, bringing Kihyun’s hand up to his lips and brushing a light kiss against his knuckles.

 

“That’s adorable,” Kihyun said giddily.

 

They walked for hours, circling the park several times and going on the same route each time. The best part was that Kihyun, somewhere deep in his heart, knew that this wouldn’t be the last walk they took for a very long time.


End file.
